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hi!
doom3 is comming soon and i want to know what is better
2X256 mb=512 mb dual ddr or
2X256 mb + 512mb=1giga without the dual ddr

my specs r:
amd 2500+ @ 11X200=2200
abit a7n REV 2.0
2X256 A DATA PC 3200 DDR CL3
ATI 9800PRO STOCK
VOLCANO 12

pr0digal jenius

by dual do you mean dual channel???

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yes the problem is when u pot the 3rd ram stick u lose the dual ddr

dipstick

I'm pretty sure you can run three sticks in dual channel mode. Put the 2x256 in the slots that share the one channel and the 512mb stick in the other channel slot...should work fine

gif

ok so u say in abit nf7
the chanel 1&2 r the same chanel and no 3
will give the dual ddr?
if u r right so i will go for it!

Judas

only the two sticks of 256 will run dual channel mode... but i'm not completely familare with the setup

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krazy1

2x512 in dual channel

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dipstick

That is not true. Two slots share one channel while the other is on its own(2nd channel). As long as a minimum of two sticks are in its dual channel. This is why you can still run two sticks and be in single channel if you really wanted to

mike2h

you can not run dual & single at the same time.

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dipstick

Huh? You lost me

Vampyromaniac

just get the gigabyte of RAM regardless if DC works. with athlonXP's, dual channel isn't really dual channel anyway.

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10x for evry one
y dual isn't really a dual?

Vampyromaniac

because between the CPU and the RAM, data passes through the memory bus, but also the FSB, and the FSB is still single-channel.
it's ike having 4 wheels, but only 2 tires.

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gif

so u don't really see any improvment?
if u r right so 1 giga is far better then 512 in dual ddr!

krazy1

Test show only about 5% gain in dual channel....

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mike2h

you can not run a single & dual channel at the same time.

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gif

how much improvmemt u get from from getting another 512mb of ram in win xp
and this is my last qu
10q

dipstick

heh, obviously bud. But let me explain how these boards work. There are 2 channels and three slots. Two slots share one of the channels, can we agree to that? So if you had three sticks in there how many channels would they be taking up? If you put memory in both channels like you are doing with three sticks(no choice obviously) you are running in dual channel, there is no way to change that.

mike2h

depends on what you are doing. if you are mostly just gaming anyhing over the 768 -1gig range is minimal, if any advantage. if their are other factors like video editng, graphics, etc, more is better. xp is MUCH better at mem management than previous vers.

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mike2h

3x single channel. 2sticks in the dual channel will give you dual channel(supposedly). filling all 3 slots reverts all slots to single channel status.

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gif

ok thanks!

Bart1987

My motherboard manual says dual channel when you install the dimms in the following sequence:socket 1+3, 2+3 or 1+2+3. So you have dual channel when you install them in all three of them.

dipstick

That is impossible bud. How can it be single channel when you have mem in both channels? Now if you said that it limits the mem speed to DD333 I would believe that.

Bart1987

On my board I have to put one dim in socket 3 and the other one doesn't matter. Socket 3 is also separated from socket 1 and 2. I have to put one socket in 3 because it has it's own channel, just like dipstick said. socket 1 and 2 share the channell (so if you would put them in socket 1 and 2 you would only have single channel mem. Eventhoug you have identical dimms). So if he puts his 2x256Mb in socket 1 and 2 and the 512Mb in socket 3 he still has 2 channels in use: Dual channel.

pr0digal jenius

go for the gig...512 is getting pushed down to 'minimum requirements' on newer games...so a gig is defintely a better bet, unless you can get hold of a gig Dual Channel

mike2h

when you populate all 3 channels 'dual channel' is disabled by the mem controller. it would be the same as having 2 different sticks of mem on your mb, one operating at one bandwidth the other one operating at a different b.w. it is not a mater of mhz it is a matter of throughput.

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Geminiwave

yeah its faster but not by much.

HOWEVER!!! (BIG BOLD FACED NOTE)

OpenGL has a HUGE performance gain with nForce2 dual channel(theres an article on THG) until recently, there hasnt been any reason to do this though.

one more thing. You CAN run 2X256mb+1X512MB in dual channel. I do it.

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CrapolaJola

mike2h=wrong
dipstick=right

Mike 3 slots, 2 of them share a channel and the other one has its own channel. When you fill all 3 slots the nf2 mem controller doesn't disable dual channel, believe us it doesn't. I honestly don't see why you believe it does.

OpenGL has HUGE performance gains from dual channel on nf2 mobos? I think not, the most dual channel will gain you in an nf2/aXP system is a few percent over your previous fps. Also I went to THG and checked out a few of the nf2 articles, the dual channel did provide a nice little gain (but not HUGE) in Quake3, but it's Quake3 in other games you'll gain jack didily performance wise.

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P2 X4 @ 3.6ghz, 4gb ddr3, SSD, 5870 @ 950/1250 + a 3ghz i5 lappy

mike2h

so you are telling me that the mem contoller on that chipset can run 2 different datastreams at the same time? there is a sig difference in speed between dual channel & single channel. there is no way that is happening.

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